Mark Zuckerberg's Political Status: It's Complicated

May 1, 2013

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Although none of the ads imply that either Zuckeberg or FWD.us support policies like expanded oil drilling, detractors see little distinction between the group and its subsidiaries or between the group and Zuckerberg.

Their view that the ends (in this case, comprehensive immigration reform) do not justify the means (controversial political ads), has led at least two other groups -- CREDO Action, the liberal arm of CREDO Mobile, a cellular phone company, and the "climate safety" organization, 350.org -- to publicly lash out at Zuckerberg. A CREDO spokeswoman said 18,5000 people signed on an online petition condemning the ads and, along with 350.org, they are planning a protest outside Facebook headquarters in California on Wednesday.

Although FWD.us supporters include John Doerr, a prominent Silicon Valley-based venture capitalist; Reid Hoffman, executive chairman of LinkedIn; Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google; Reed Hastings, founder and CEO of Netflix; and Marissa Mayer, chief executive officer of Yahoo!, so far the progressive ire has been focused almost exclusively on Zuckerberg.

Complicating matters are the Facebook founder's somewhat mysterious political views. Zuckerberg and other technology leaders, for example, dined with President Obama in February 2011 and he hosted the president at a friendly town hall meeting two months later at Facebook's offices.

But he also threw a fundraiser earlier this year for Gov. Chris Christie, the New Jersey Republican and potential 2016 presidential contender. (At the time CREDO Action organized a protest outside of Zuckerberg's Palo Alto home.)

According to the Wall Street Journal, Zuckerberg is registered to vote in Santa Clara County but did not state a party preference. Campaign finance records show he donated a total of $10,000 in 2011 and 2012 to Facebook's political action committee.

In a Washington Post Op-Ed announcing his new advocacy group earlier this month, Zuckerberg expressed support for three major policy goals: "comprehensive immigration reform"; "higher standards and accountability in schools"; and "investment in breakthrough discoveries in scientific research."

"We will work with members of Congress from both parties, the administration and state and local officials," Zuckerberg wrote. "We will use online and offline advocacy tools to build support for policy changes, and we will strongly support those willing to take the tough stands necessary to promote these policies in Washington."